Apparatuses of the type mentioned here, which are also called corrugated pipe cutters, are used to separate the pipe having corrugations, the so-called corrugated pipe. A corrugated pipe of this type is a rotation body with a circular or other cross-section, the wall of which has substantially sinusoidal corrugations with a uniform or non-uniform profile.
Corrugated pipes are used more and more often in solar thermal technology and are used there, for example, as heat exchangers as, because of their corrugated structure, the corrugated pipes have a relatively large surface and therefore encourage heat transfer. The corrugated pipes are also used in heating and sanitary engineering and in various industrial applications.
Apparatuses for cutting corrugated pipes to length generally have a clamping device, by means of which the corrugated pipe to be cut to length is held clamped in a machining position. The corrugated pipe is then cut to length by means of a cutting wheel, which is moved into an active position against the corrugated pipe in the machining position, so a separation is brought about by moving the cutting wheel around the corrugated pipe.
An apparatus of this type is known from the Applicant's product catalogue (main catalogue 2008, pages 112 and 113). The apparatus or pipe separator is described there for separating a non-corrugated pipe, even if it is also suitable for cutting a corrugated pipe to length.
It has been shown that the cutting tool slides away laterally from its position set on the corrugated pipe during the cutting movement guided around the corrugated pipe when the cutting tool is set on the tip or the apex of a corrugation or on a flank of a corrugation. The result of this is that the separation edge runs non-uniformly over the periphery of the corrugated pipe in the axial direction with respect to the pipe axis.
A separation edge running in this manner makes the fastening of the corrugated pipe in a pipeline system or to any connection pieces more difficult and leads to leaks resulting in undesired flow turbulences within the pipe.
DE 601 00 137 T2 describes a possibility, by means of which a corrugated pipe can be cut along a corrugation apex, without the cutting tool sliding off laterally during the separating process. A pipe separator is described there, which is pressed onto the surface of a corrugated pipe to be cut and has two projections, which are arranged at an axial spacing with respect to the longitudinal axis of the corrugated pipe and engage in mutually adjacent corrugation troughs. A cutting tool, which is set on a corrugation apex of the corrugated pipe by the engagement of the projections in the two corrugation troughs and remains on the corrugation apex without laterally sliding away because of the engagement of the projections during the cutting movement around the pipe, is arranged between the projections.
The projections and the cutting tool have a fixed arrangement with respect to one another in this known corrugated pipe separator. Only corrugated pipes, the corrugations of which extend in the direction of the pipe axis in the same manner, can be cut thereby. The known corrugated pipe separator is also arranged to cut corrugated pipes to length at a respective corrugation apex.